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Course Description

This course is intended to help you become a better writer, a careful reader, and a critical thinker. We will work on these goals by reading, discussing, and writing about works of imaginative literature. The course is divided into three thematic units: 1) Love and Relationships, 2) Scientific and Artistic Pursuit, and 3) War and Imperialism. In these units, we'll be reading a mixture of poetry, drama, and fiction, as well as watching and analyzing several film versions of the literature we read.

Written work for the class includes four formal papers on the literary works and films that we'll be discussing. Two of the four papers in the course will first be turned in as drafts, commented on in workshop sessions, and then revised and turned in as finished papers. The fourth paper will be a take-home essay, which will be a portion of your final exam. I will give you more information about each paper, including a written assignment sheet, well in advance of its due date. Coursework also includes daily homework questions over course readings. Answers to these questions should be about a page long and may be hand written. You must turn in 12 of these during the course of the semester, and they will be graded on a pass/fail basis. (There are 16 questions on the syllabus--you may skip 4 homework questions of your own choosing). You will also be required to write several peer evaluations of classmates' papers.

Attendance

Regular attendance and participation are requirements to pass the course. You may take 3 absences without being penalized (although I don't recommend it--it's best for you to be in class every meeting). I don't distinguish between excused and unexcused absences, so you should save your absences for when you're really sick or out of town. For each absence over 3 (for any reason--excused or unexcused), I will automatically subtract 3 points from your final course average. You are responsible for all work covered during your absence.

Late Papers

Acceptable, complete draft essays must be turned in on specified dates. Drafts are not graded, but are mandatory. Failure to turn in drafts at the beginning of class on required due dates will result in ten points automatically being subtracted from the grade received on your final essay. Late peer critiques and homework assignments will not be accepted. Final versions of papers will be penalized five points for each day or fraction of a day they are late.

Grading

Your final grade will be determined according to these percentages:

Homework	15%
Peer Critiques	10%
Paper #1	15%
Paper #2	20%
Paper #3	20%
Final Exam (Paper #4)	20%

Letter grades assigned will have th efollowing numerical values:

A+/98	B+/88	C+/78	D+/68
A /95	B /85	C /75	D /65
A-/92	B-/82	C-/72	D-/62
F = 50 Paper not turned in = 0

Plagiarism

All work submitted must be your own. You may discuss writing assignments and prepare for tests with your classmates (in fact, you will be required to do so), but all that you write should be yours. Incorporating others' words or ideas in your essays without proper acknowledgment, or any other form of academic dishonesty, will result in an "F" for the entire course.

Reading Schedule

Read all assignments before coming to class on the dates below. All assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class on the day that they are due.

January
Love and Relationships
10 Tu	Course Introduction
12 Th	Read: The Seagull Reader (Introduction, xv-xix, xix-xxii); Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"; Sir Phillip Sydney, Sonnet 1 (packet) Discuss Assignment: Paper #1 Homework Question: Choose one of the poems and answer these questions: Who’s the speaker in the poem? Who’s the listener? What’s the situation?

17 Tu	Read: The Seagull Reader (Introduction, xxii-xxiii); Michael Drayton, "Since There's No Help (packet); John Donne, "The Flea"; Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress" Homework Question: What is the speaker of “The Flea” attempting to persuade his listener to do? How do you know?
19 Th	Read: The Seagull Reader, xxvii-xxix; Robert Frost, "The Silken Tent" (packet); John Donne, "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning"; Thomas Campion, "There Is a Garden in Her Face" (packet); Shakespeare, "My Mistress' Eyes"; Anne Bradstreet, "A Letter to Her Husband, Absent . . ." Homework Question: Explain an extended metaphor in one of these poems. What two things are being compared? Why does the poet choose to compare these particular items?

24 Tu	Read: Paul Allen, "The Man with the Hardest Belly"; Louise Erdrich, "Captivity" Due: Paper #1 Homework: Very briefly, summarize the story told in one of these poems.
26 Th	Read: Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (Act I) Homework Question: Describe the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick at the beginning of the play.

31 Tu	Read: Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (Acts II and III) Homework Question: What trick does Don John play on Claudio and Hero? How are Borachio and Conrad caught?
February
2 Th	Watch Film: Much Ado About Nothing (through Act III)

7 Tu	Read: Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (Acts IV and V) Discuss Assignment: Paper #2 Homework: How does the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice advance in these acts?
9 Th	Watch Film: Much Ado About Nothing (through end)

14 Tu	Due: Draft, Paper #2 (bring 3 copies to class) Discuss: Writing Issues
16 Th	Peer Conferences

21 Tu	Peer Conferences
Scientific and Artistic Pursuit
23 Th	Read: Frankenstein, (Author's Introduction-Chapter 6, pp. 1-46) Due: Final Version, Paper #2 Homework: Why do you think Shelley includes the framing device of Walton’s trip to the Arctic? What does this add to the novel? (Why not just begin with Victor’s story itself?)

28 Tu	Read: Frankenstein, (Chapters 7-21) Homework: Does Shelley want us to believe that Victor is right or wrong to destroy his female creation?
March
2 Th	Read: Frankenstein, (Chapters 22-end); Watch Film Clips Discuss Assignment: Paper #3 Homework: Does Victor finally learn something in the end or is he simply seeking revenge? Read carefully—this question may be trickier than it sounds.

7 Tu	Spring Break
9 Th	Spring Break

14 Tu	Read: Amadeus (Act I) No class meeting; Film Amadeus 7 pm, Stern Center Ballroom Homework: Briefly explain the relationship between Mozart and Salieri in Act I. How do the two men feel about each other? Are we to feel more sympathy for one than the other?
16 Th	Read: Amadeus (Act II) No class meeting; Amadeus Panel Discussion, 3:15 pm, Stern Center Ballroom Homework: How does the film version of Amadeus compare to the play?

21 Tu	Discuss: Amadeus Homework: Respond to the panel discussion. How useful do you think it was? Did you learn anything new or interesting? Explain.
23 Th	Discuss: Amadeus Due: Draft, Paper #3 (bring 3 copies to class)

28 Tu	Peer Conferences
30 Th	Peer Conferences
War and Imperialism
April
4 Tu	Read: Heart of Darkness (Book I) Due: Final Version, Paper #3 Homework: How is European colonization of Africa treated in Book I?
6 Th	Read: Heart of Darkness Homework: What does Marlowe learn from watching Kurtz die?

11 Tu	Watch Film: Apocalypse Now
13 Th	Watch Film: Apocalypse Now

18 Tu	Discuss: Apocalypse Now Discuss Assignment: Paper #4 Homework: Choose a discreet scene from the film (i.e. Willard in the hotel room in the beginning; one of the stops along the river; at Kurtz’s compound) and analyze what you think this scene ADDS to the whole of the film. Why is it included?
20 Th	Last Day of Class Discuss: Apocalypse Now; Final Exam

29 Sat.	9:25 class: Final Exam, 8-11 a.m.
May
2 Tu	10:50 class: Final Exam, 8-11 a.m.

English 102: Composition and Literature

Syllabus / Reading Schedule

Discuss: Amadeus

Discuss: Amadeus

Due: Draft, Paper #3 (bring 3 copies to class)

Peer Conferences

War and Imperialism